Method and device for processing an audio signal in a vehicle

ABSTRACT

A method and a device for processing an audio signal in a vehicle are provided. The method includes: obtaining an audio signal by a microphone array; performing echo cancellation on the obtained audio signal, to obtain a first processed signal; and performing beamforming on the first processed signal according to sound zones in which microphones of the microphone array are located, to obtain a second processed signal, wherein the vehicle includes at least two sound zones, and each microphone of the microphone array is located in at least one sound zone. With the beamforming, the requirements for isolation degree between different sound zones is not high, and the sound source of the audio signal can be accurately determined.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No.201811480650.5, entitled “Method and Device for Processing an AudioSignal in a Vehicle”, and filed on Dec. 5, 2018, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of voice control technology,and in particular, to a method and a device for processing an audiosignal in a vehicle.

BACKGROUND

In the current automobile market, an on-board microphone collects voiceonly at a fixed position for a main driver in a vehicle, such as aposition of a main control console or an overhead light of the vehicle,and is mainly applied to an on-board phone application. In recent years,smart vehicles are increasingly in popularity. Compared with atraditional vehicle, an on-board entertainment system of the smartvehicle is intelligent, networked and personalized in functions, whichcan obtain multimedia information from the Internet and display themthrough an on-board large screen.

The existing on-board microphone is generally installed only at aposition of an overhead light, a central console or an A pillar of avehicle, and can only collect sound in a seating area for a driver. Thissingle-zone sound collecting device and its particular position cannotmeet a future Internet on-board system, such that an on-board voicerecognition system cannot provide service to passengers other than themain driver, let alone provide service to each passenger simultaneously.In addition, the noise reduction effect of the existing microphone isnot ideal, and the noise reduction cannot be performed well on somenon-human sound (such as sound of opening or closing a vehicle door,engine sound, tire noise and so on). If it is necessary to provide avoice recognition service for each seating area of the whole vehicle, aplurality set of microphone arrays are required to achieve the soundcollecting effect in each seating area of the whole vehicle.

SUMMARY

A method and a device for processing an audio signal in a vehicle areprovided according to embodiments of the present disclosure, so as to atleast solve one or more technical problems in the existing technology.

In a first aspect, a method for processing an audio signal in a vehicleis provided according to an embodiment of the present application, themethod includes:

obtaining an audio signal by a microphone array;

performing echo cancellation on the obtained audio signal, to obtain afirst processed signal; and

performing beamforming on the first processed signal according to soundzones in which microphones of the microphone array are located, toobtain a second processed signal, wherein the vehicle includes at leasttwo sound zones, and each microphone of the microphone array is locatedin at least one sound zone.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

performing noise reduction and signal amplification on the secondprocessed signal, to obtain a third processed signal, and sending thethird processed signal to an on-board operation system of the vehicle,to control the vehicle in response to the third processed signal.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

setting the sound zones in which respective microphones of themicrophone array is located, based on a topology of the microphonearray.

In one possible implementation, the setting the sound zones in whichrespective microphones of the microphone array is located, based on atopology of the microphone array includes at least one of:

determining a first microphone as a microphone in common with the soundzones, setting a sound zone in which a second microphone is located to afirst sound zone, and setting a sound zone in which a third microphoneis located to a second zone, wherein the microphone array is a triangleincluding at least three microphones; and

determining each microphone of the microphone array to be located in atleast one sound zone, wherein the microphone array is an N-gon, acircle, or a matrix including a plurality of microphones, and N is aninteger greater than 3.

In one possible implementation, the performing beamforming on the firstprocessed signal according to sound zones in which microphones of themicrophone array are located, includes:

performing the beamforming on the first processed signal based on thesound zone in which each microphone of the microphone array is locatedand a time when each microphone receives the audio signal, to determinea sound zone in which a sound source of the audio signal is located.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

for each microphone of the microphone array,

determining a location of a sound source of the audio signal received bythe microphone, to determine a sound zone in which the sound source islocated;

comparing the determined sound zone with the sound zone in which themicrophone is located, to determine whether the determined sound zone isidentical with the sound zone in which the microphone is located; and

in a case that the determined sound zone is not identical with the soundzone in which the microphone is located, calibrating the sound zone inwhich the microphone is located by the determined sound zone.

In one possible implementation, the sending the third processed signalto an on-board operation system of the vehicle, includes:

sending the third processed signal to the on-board operation system ofthe vehicle via an Automotive Audio Bus.

In a second aspect, a device for processing an audio signal in a vehicleis provided according to an embodiment of the present application, thedevice includes:

a signal obtaining module configured to obtain an audio signal by amicrophone array;

an echo cancellation module configured to perform echo cancellation onthe obtained audio signal, to obtain a first processed signal; and

a beamforming module configured to perform beamforming on the firstprocessed signal according to sound zones in which microphones of themicrophone array are located, to obtain a second processed signal,wherein the vehicle includes at least two sound zones, and eachmicrophone of the microphone array is located in at least one soundzone.

In one possible implementation, the device further includes:

a signal sending module configured to perform noise reduction and signalamplification on the second processed signal, to obtain a thirdprocessed signal, and send the third processed signal to an on-boardoperation system of the vehicle, to control the vehicle in response tothe third processed signal.

In one possible implementation, the device further includes:

a sound zone setting module configured to set the sound zones in whichrespective microphones of the microphone array is located, based on atopology of the microphone array.

In one possible implementation, the sound zone setting module is furtherconfigured to set the sound zones in which respective microphones of themicrophone array is located based on a topology of the microphone arrayby at least one of:

determining a first microphone as a microphone in common with the soundzones, setting a sound zone in which a second microphone is located to afirst sound zone, and setting a sound zone in which a third microphoneis located to a second zone, wherein the microphone array is a triangleincluding at least three microphones; and

determining each microphone of the microphone array to be located in atleast one sound zone, wherein the microphone array is an N-gon, acircle, or a matrix including a plurality of microphones, and N is aninteger greater than 3.

In one possible implementation, the beamforming module is furtherconfigured to perform the beamforming on the first processed signalbased on the sound zone in which each microphone of the microphone arrayis located and a time when each microphone receives the audio signal, todetermine a sound zone in which a sound source of the audio signal islocated.

In one possible implementation, the device further includes:

a localizing module configured to, for each microphone of the microphonearray, determine a location of a sound source of the audio signalreceived by the microphone, to determine a sound zone in which the soundsource is located;

a comparing module configured to, for each microphone of the microphonearray, compare the determined sound zone with the sound zone in whichthe microphone is located, to determine whether the determined soundzone is identical with the sound zone in which the microphone islocated; and

a calibrating module configured to, for each microphone of themicrophone array, in a case that the determined sound zone is notidentical with the sound zone in which the microphone is located,calibrate the sound zone in which the microphone is located by thedetermined sound zone.

In one possible implementation, the signal sending module is furtherconfigured to send the third processed signal to the on-board operationsystem of the vehicle via an Automotive Audio Bus.

In a third aspect, an apparatus for processing an audio signal in avehicle is provided according to an embodiment of the presentapplication. The functions of the apparatus may be implemented byhardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardwareor software includes one or more modules corresponding to the abovefunctions.

In a possible design, the structure of the apparatus includes:

a microphone array, configured to collect an audio signal; and

a controller including a processor and a storage, the storage isconfigured to store a program for supporting the above method forprocessing an audio signal in a vehicle, executed by the apparatus, theprocessor is configured to execute the program stored in the storage.The apparatus further includes a communication interface configured forcommunication between the apparatus and another apparatus orcommunication network.

In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is providedaccording to an embodiment of the present application, for storingcomputer software instructions used by the device for processing anaudio signal in a vehicle, the computer software instructions includeprograms involved in execution of the above method for processing anaudio signal in a vehicle.

One of the above technical solutions has the following advantages orbeneficial effects.

A sound zone in which each microphone in a microphone array is locatedcan be set in advance, so that the beamforming can be performed on anaudio signal directly by using the sound zone in which each microphoneis located. With such beamforming, the requirements for isolation degreebetween different sound zones is not high, and a sound source of theaudio signal can be accurately determined.

The above summary is for the purpose of the specification only and isnot intended to be limiting in any way. In addition to the illustrativeaspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects,embodiments, and features of the present application will be readilyunderstood by reference to the drawings and the following detaileddescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, unless otherwise specified, identical referencenumerals will be used throughout the drawings to refer to identical orsimilar parts or elements. The drawings are not necessarily drawn toscale. It should be understood that these drawings depict only someembodiments disclosed in accordance with the present application and arenot to be considered as limiting the scope of the present application.

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of a method for processing an audio signal in avehicle according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a method for processing an audio signal in avehicle according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a method for processing an audio signal in avehicle according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an application example of a method forprocessing an audio signal in a vehicle according to an embodiment ofthe present application.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a triangular microphone array in amethod for processing an audio signal in a vehicle according to anembodiment of the present application.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a polygonal microphone array in amethod for processing an audio signal in a vehicle according to anembodiment of the present application.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a matrix-shaped microphone array ina method for processing an audio signal in a vehicle according to anembodiment of the present application.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a circular microphone array in amethod for processing an audio signal in a vehicle according to anembodiment of the present application.

FIG. 9 shows a structural block diagram of a device for processing anaudio signal in a vehicle according to an embodiment of the presentapplication.

FIG. 10 shows a structural block diagram of a device for processing anaudio signal in a vehicle according to an embodiment of the presentapplication.

FIG. 11 shows a structural block diagram of a device for processing anaudio signal in a vehicle according to an embodiment of the presentapplication.

FIG. 12 shows a structural block diagram of an apparatus for processingan audio signal in a vehicle according to an embodiment of the presentapplication.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following, only certain exemplary embodiments are brieflydescribed. As those skilled in the art would realize, the describedembodiments may be modified in various different ways, all withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the present application.Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not restrictive.

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of a method for processing an audio signal in avehicle according to an embodiment of the present application. As shownin FIG. 1, the method includes:

S11: obtaining an audio signal by a microphone array;

S12: performing echo cancellation on the obtained audio signal, toobtain a first processed signal; and

S13: performing beamforming on the first processed signal according tosound zones in which microphones of the microphone array are located, toobtain a second processed signal, wherein the vehicle includes at leasttwo sound zones, and each microphone of the microphone array is locatedin at least one sound zone.

In one possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 2, the method furtherincludes:

S14: performing noise reduction and signal amplification on the secondprocessed signal, to obtain a third processed signal, and sending thethird processed signal to an on-board operation system of the vehicle,to control the vehicle in response to the third processed signal.

The vehicle typically includes a driver seating area, a co-driverseating area, and a rear passenger seating area. A microphone array isarranged in the vehicle. The microphone array typically includes aplurality of microphone sensors (hereinafter referred to as microphones)that can be placed at respective spatial locations of the seating areasin a certain manner, to receive respective audio signals at therespective spatial locations. The microphone array can have a variety oftopologies, such as a triangle, a circle, a polygon and a matrix,depending on the number of microphones and a distribution of themicrophones. For different topologies of the microphone array, the soundzone in which each microphone is located can also have different settingmodes.

In one possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 2, the method furtherincludes:

S10: setting the sound zones in which respective microphones of themicrophone array is located, based on a topology of the microphonearray.

In one possible implementation, S10 includes at least one of thefollowing modes.

Mode 1: if the microphone array is a triangle composed of threemicrophones, a first microphone is used as a common microphone, a secondmicrophone and the first microphone are set to be located in a firstsound zone, and a third microphone and first microphone are set to belocated in a second sound zone.

For example, referring to FIG. 5, three microphones A, B, and C areincluded in a triangular microphone array. The microphone A is used as acommon microphone, the microphone A and the microphone B are located inthe first sound zone, and the left part of the AB connection line is thefirst sound zone. The microphone A and the microphone C are located inthe second sound zone, and the right part of the AC connection line isthe second sound zone.

In one example, if the triangular microphone array is placed on the roofof the vehicle or in the middle of front and rear seats of the vehicle,the space within the vehicle can be divided into two sound zones by theleft and right parts of the triangle, respectively. The two sound zonesas divided are respectively directed to one seat in the front or rearrow of the vehicle, which facilitates more accurate identification ofsound sources of audio signals from the two seats.

Mode 2: if the microphone array is an N-gon, circular or matrixincluding a plurality of microphones, for each microphone in themicrophone array, the microphone is set to locate in at least one soundzones, where N is an integer greater than 3.

For example, referring to FIG. 6, four microphones A, B, C, and D areincluded in a polygonal microphone array. The microphone A and themicrophone B are located the first sound zone, and the left part of theAB connection line is the first sound zone. The microphone C and themicrophone D are located the second sound zone, and the right part ofthe CD connection line is the second sound zone.

For another example, referring to FIG. 7, a matrix-shaped microphonearray includes nine microphones forming an array of 3*3, where E is acommon microphone, A, B, C, and E are located in the first sound zone,A, D, G, and E are located in the second sound zone, G, H, I, and E arelocated in the third sound zone and C, F, I, and E are located in thefourth sound zone.

For another example, referring to FIG. 8, a circular microphone arrayincludes eight microphones, and a sound zone in which each of themicrophones in a circle is located can be set. For example, each ofmicrophones 1 to 8 is located in the first to eighth regionsrespectively. In addition, it is also possible to group several adjacentmicrophones in the circle, and the microphones of the same group are setto be located in the same sound zone. For example, microphones 1 to 4are located in the first sound zone, and microphones 5 to 8 are locatedin the second sound zone. For another example, microphones 1 to 4 arelocated in the first sound zone, microphones 4 to 7 are located in thesecond sound zone, and microphones 7 to 8 and 1 are located in the thirdsound zone.

In one possible implementation, S13 includes: performing the beamformingon the first processed signal based on the sound zone in which eachmicrophone of the microphone array is located and a time when eachmicrophone receives the audio signal, to determine a sound zone in whicha sound source of the audio signal is located.

Due to the different positions of the microphones, times when the sameaudio signal reaches the microphones are different. Therefore, thebeamforming (also known as beam forming) can be performed based on thesound zones in which each microphone is located and differences betweentimes when the microphones receive the audio signal, to determine asound zone in which a sound source of the audio signal is located.

In an example, the beamforming may be performed by using the sound zonein which each microphone in the microphone array is located, to weight asignal of each microphone, so as to enhance a signal of a specific soundzone, and weaken signals of other sound zones, thereby obtaining thesignal from the specific sound zone.

In the embodiment of the present application, sound zones in whichrespective microphones in the microphone array are located may be set inadvance, so that the beamforming can be performed on the audio signaldirectly based on the sound zones in which respective microphones arelocated. With this beamforming, the requirements for isolation degreesbetween different sound zones is not high, about 20 dB, and the soundsource of the audio signal can be accurately determined.

In one example, assume that there is only one microphone array, sincethe microphones in the microphone array can be located in at least onesound zone, the beamforming and sound source localization can beaccurately performed based on a sound zone to which each microphone inthe microphone array is located, to accurately locate the sound sourceof the audio signal.

In one possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 3, the method furtherincludes, for each microphone of the microphone array:

S31: determining a location of a sound source of the audio signalreceived by the microphone, to determine a sound zone in which the soundsource is located;

S32: comparing the determined sound zone with the sound zone in whichthe microphone is located, to determine whether the determined soundzone is identical with the sound zone in which the microphone islocated; and

S33: in a case that the determined sound zone is not identical with thesound zone in which the microphone is located, calibrating the soundzone in which the microphone is located by the determined sound zone.

In one possible implementation, the determining a location of a soundsource of the audio signal received by the microphone, to determine asound zone in which the sound source is located for each microphone ofthe microphone array can be performed conventionally, for example, usingtime delay estimation.

In one possible implementation, S14 includes: sending the thirdprocessed signal to the on-board operation system of the vehicle via anAUTOMOTIVE AUDIO BUS®.

The AUTOMOTIVE AUDIO BUS® (A2B) can be implemented as a bus includingcomplex audio lines, speaker lines, microphone lines and so on, toreduce various wires in a vehicle. By using the A2B, not only the numberand weight of wires in the vehicle can be reduced, such that the wiringis simpler and more orderly, but also the space inside the vehicle canbe increased to facilitate the adjustment of the positions andarrangement of various multimedia devices.

In one possible implementation, the signal obtained after the echocancellation, beamforming, noise reduction, and signal amplification maybe an audio digital signal. After the obtained audio digital signal issent to an on-board operation system through an A2B, the on-boardoperation system may perform voice recognition on the received audiodigital signal, and a voice recognition result is used to controlvarious functions of the vehicle. For example, the voice recognitionresult is used to control one or more of functions such as calling,multimedia resource search, information query, and vehicle control.

In an application example, as shown in FIG. 4, an on-board multi-zonenoise reduction device collecting a sound by a microphone array isprovided. The working principle of the on-board multi-zone noisereduction device collecting a sound by a microphone array is as follows.

In step S41, the front end uses a group of more than one microphone, forexample, three or more microphones forming a triangular, a matrix or acircular as a microphone array to collect a sound from each person inthe vehicle.

In step S42, audio signals collected by respective microphones can betransmitted to an audio digital signal processor or a main processor toperform software algorithm processing such as simultaneous multi-zonesound collecting, beamforming, echo cancellation, noise reduction, andamplification. In one example, it is possible to automatically determinewhich seat a sound is coming from when collecting the sound.

In step S43, a signal is transmitted through an audio interface such asa vehicle audio bus (A2B) interface. A signal is transmitted over atwisted-pair wire via a A2B interface. Not only audio data signals canbe transmitted through an A2B, but also control signals and phantompower and the like can be supplied through the A2B. For example, anInter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) control signal can be supplied through anA2B. Therefore, an A2B can greatly reduce the complexity of vehiclewiring and reduce the Bill of Material (BOM) cost of an on-board audiosystem. In addition, an A2B can ensure a high fidelity of audio signals,real-time audio transmission, while significantly reducing a weight oftransmission cable bunch, thereby improving a vehicle fuel efficiency orbattery life.

In step S44, after receiving a signal from an A2B, an intelligenton-board operation system may send the signal to a voice recognitionsystem for recognition, and then control an operation of another systemof the vehicle according to a recognition result. For example, if it isdetermined that a call is made to XX, a call system in the vehicle canbe controlled to dial a telephone number of XX.

In this application example, a microphone array of a topology such as atriangle, a matrix or a circle is placed in the roof of the vehicle orin the middle of the front or rear seats of the vehicle, so that anon-board voice recognition system can better support a “car internet”on-board system. In this way, the on-board voice recognition system canbetter recognize an audio signal in an area for a passenger other than amain driver, and thus, the intelligent “car internet” on-board systemcan more conveniently and quickly serve passengers in the seats of thevehicle.

In addition, a noise reduction module is placed in a sound collectingmodule of the microphone array, to implement an on-board multi-zonenoise reduction device collecting a sound by a microphone array, whereina noise reduction module can reduce non-human sound such as sound ofopening or closing a vehicle door, wind noise, engine sound, tire noise,other vehicle sound such as whistle, so that the on-board voicerecognition system can better serve passengers in the seating areas ofthe vehicle. The intelligent “car Internet” on-board system includes alarge amount of audio and video contents, information and othermultimedia information. Voice control and call application are veryimportant and commonly used functions of an on-board system. It isrequired to collect a voice signal from each seating area and perform anoise reduction process on it for voice recognition and call in thevehicle. The embodiment of the application can improve the voicerecognition efficiency of an audio signal in the vehicle, therebyimproving the user control experience, and implementing various on-boardInternet services such as network search, audio and video on demand,information query, video call, and vehicle control.

FIG. 9 shows a structural block diagram of a device for processing anaudio signal in a vehicle according to an embodiment of the presentapplication. As shown in FIG. 9, the device may include:

a signal obtaining module 61 configured to obtain an audio signal by amicrophone array;

an echo cancellation module 62 configured to perform echo cancellationon the obtained audio signal, to obtain a first processed signal; and

a beamforming module 63 configured to perform beamforming on the firstprocessed signal according to sound zones in which microphones of themicrophone array are located, to obtain a second processed signal,wherein the vehicle includes at least two sound zones, and eachmicrophone of the microphone array is located in at least one soundzone.

In one possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 10, the device furtherincludes:

a signal sending module 64 configured to perform noise reduction andsignal amplification on the second processed signal, to obtain a thirdprocessed signal, and send the third processed signal to an on-boardoperation system of the vehicle, to control the vehicle in response tothe third processed signal.

In one possible implementation, the device further includes:

a sound zone setting module 65 configured to set the sound zones inwhich respective microphones of the microphone array is located, basedon a topology of the microphone array.

In one possible implementation, the sound zone setting module 65 isfurther configured to set the sound zones in which respectivemicrophones of the microphone array is located based on a topology ofthe microphone array by at least one of:

determining a first microphone as a microphone in common with the soundzones, setting a sound zone in which a second microphone is located to afirst sound zone, and setting a sound zone in which a third microphoneis located to a second zone, wherein the microphone array is a triangleincluding at least three microphones; and

determining each microphone of the microphone array to be located in atleast one sound zone, wherein the microphone array is an N-gon, acircle, or a matrix including a plurality of microphones, and N is aninteger greater than 3.

In one possible implementation, the beamforming module 63 is furtherconfigured to perform the beamforming on the first processed signalbased on the sound zone in which each microphone of the microphone arrayis located and a time when each microphone receives the audio signal, todetermine a sound zone in which a sound source of the audio signal islocated.

In one possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 11, the device furtherincludes:

a localizing module 71 configured to, for each microphone of themicrophone array, determine a location of a sound source of the audiosignal received by the microphone, to determine a sound zone in whichthe sound source is located;

a comparing module 72 configured to, for each microphone of themicrophone array, compare the determined sound zone with the sound zonein which the microphone is located, to determine whether the determinedsound zone is identical with the sound zone in which the microphone islocated; and;

a calibrating module 73 configured to, for each microphone of themicrophone array, in a case that the determined sound zone is notidentical with the sound zone in which the microphone is located,calibrate the sound zone in which the microphone is located by thedetermined sound zone.

In one possible implementation, the signal sending module 64 is furtherconfigured to send the third processed signal to the on-board operationsystem of the vehicle via an AUTOMOTIVE AUDIO BUS®.

In this embodiment, functions of modules in the device refer to thecorresponding description of the above mentioned method and thus thedescription thereof is omitted herein.

FIG. 12 shows a structural block diagram of an apparatus for processingan audio signal in a vehicle according to an embodiment of the presentapplication. As shown in FIG. 12, the apparatus includes a memory 910and a processor 920. The memory 910 stores a computer program executableon the processor 920. When the processor 920 executes the computerprogram, the method for processing an audio signal in a vehicle in theforegoing embodiment is implemented. The number of the memory 910 andthe processor 920 may be one or more.

The apparatus further includes:

a communication interface 930 configured to communicate with an externaldevice and exchange data.

The memory 910 may include a high-speed RAM memory and may also includea non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk memory.

If the memory 910, the processor 920, and the communication interface930 are implemented independently, the memory 910, the processor 920,and the communication interface 930 may be connected to each otherthrough a bus and communicate with one another. The bus may be anIndustry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component (PCI)bus, an Extended Industry Standard Component (EISA) bus, or the like.The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus,and the like. For ease of illustration, only one bold line is shown inFIG. 12, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type ofbus.

Optionally, in a specific implementation, if the memory 910, theprocessor 920, and the communication interface 930 are integrated on onechip, the memory 910, the processor 920, and the communication interface930 may implement mutual communication through an internal interface.

According to an embodiment of the present application, acomputer-readable storage medium is provided for storing computersoftware instructions, which include programs involved in execution ofthe above the mining method.

In the description of the specification, the description of the terms“one embodiment,” “some embodiments,” “an example,” “a specificexample,” or “some examples” and the like means the specific features,structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection withthe embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment orexample of the present application. Furthermore, the specific features,structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined inany suitable manner in any one or more of the embodiments or examples.In addition, different embodiments or examples described in thisspecification and features of different embodiments or examples may beincorporated and combined by those skilled in the art without mutualcontradiction.

In addition, the terms “first” and “second” are used for descriptivepurposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implyingrelative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicatedtechnical features. Thus, features defining “first” and “second” mayexplicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In thedescription of the present application, “a plurality of” means two ormore, unless expressly limited otherwise.

Any process or method descriptions described in flowcharts or otherwiseherein may be understood as representing modules, segments or portionsof code that include one or more executable instructions forimplementing the steps of a particular logic function or process. Thescope of the preferred embodiments of the present application includesadditional implementations where the functions may not be performed inthe order shown or discussed, including according to the functionsinvolved, in substantially simultaneous or in reverse order, whichshould be understood by those skilled in the art to which the embodimentof the present application belongs.

Logic and/or steps, which are represented in the flowcharts or otherwisedescribed herein, for example, may be thought of as a sequencing listingof executable instructions for implementing logic functions, which maybe embodied in any computer-readable medium, for use by or in connectionwith an instruction execution system, device, or apparatus (such as acomputer-based system, a processor-included system, or other system thatfetch instructions from an instruction execution system, device, orapparatus and execute the instructions). For the purposes of thisspecification, a “computer-readable medium” may be any device that maycontain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for useby or in connection with the instruction execution system, device, orapparatus. More specific examples (not a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer-readable media include the following: electrical connections(electronic devices) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskcartridge (magnetic device), random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM or flashmemory), optical fiber devices, and portable read only memory (CDROM).In addition, the computer-readable medium may even be paper or othersuitable medium upon which the program may be printed, as it may beread, for example, by optical scanning of the paper or other medium,followed by editing, interpretation or, where appropriate, processotherwise to electronically obtain the program, which is then stored ina computer memory.

It should be understood that various portions of the present applicationmay be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, or a combinationthereof. In the above embodiments, multiple steps or methods may beimplemented in software or firmware stored in memory and executed by asuitable instruction execution system. For example, if implemented inhardware, as in another embodiment, they may be implemented using anyone or a combination of the following techniques well known in the art:discrete logic circuits having a logic gate circuit for implementinglogic functions on data signals, application specific integratedcircuits with suitable combinational logic gate circuits, programmablegate arrays (PGA), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like.

Those skilled in the art may understand that all or some of the stepscarried in the methods in the foregoing embodiments may be implementedby a program instructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored ina computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, one of the stepsof the method embodiment or a combination thereof is included.

In addition, each of the functional units in the embodiments of thepresent application may be integrated in one processing module, or eachof the units may exist alone physically, or two or more units may beintegrated in one module. The above-mentioned integrated module may beimplemented in the form of hardware or in the form of softwarefunctional module. When the integrated module is implemented in the formof a software functional module and is sold or used as an independentproduct, the integrated module may also be stored in a computer-readablestorage medium. The storage medium may be a read only memory, a magneticdisk, an optical disk, or the like.

The foregoing descriptions are merely specific embodiments of thepresent application, but not intended to limit the protection scope ofthe present application. Those skilled in the art may easily conceive ofvarious changes or modifications within the technical scope disclosedherein, all these should be covered within the protection scope of thepresent application. Therefore, the protection scope of the presentapplication should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for processing an audio signal in avehicle, comprising: obtaining an audio signal by a microphone array;performing echo cancellation on the audio signal, to obtain a firstprocessed signal; performing beamforming on the first processed signalaccording to sound zones in which microphones of the microphone arrayare located, to obtain a second processed signal, wherein the vehiclecomprises at least two sound zones, and each microphone of themicrophone array is located in at least one sound zone; and for eachmicrophone of the microphone array: determining a location of a soundsource of the audio signal received by the microphone, to determine asound zone in which the sound source is located; comparing thedetermined sound zone with the sound zone in which the microphone islocated, to determine whether the determined sound zone is identicalwith the sound zone in which the microphone is located; and in a casethat the determined sound zone is not identical with the sound zone inwhich the microphone is located, calibrating the sound zone in which themicrophone is located by the determined sound zone.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: performing noise reduction andsignal amplification on the second processed signal, to obtain a thirdprocessed signal; and sending the third processed signal to an on-boardoperation system of the vehicle, to control the vehicle in response tothe third processed signal.
 3. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: setting the sound zones in which respective microphones ofthe microphone array is located, based on a topology of the microphonearray.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein setting the soundzones in which respective microphones of the microphone array islocated, based on the topology of the microphone array comprises atleast one of: determining a first microphone as a microphone in commonwith the sound zones, setting a sound zone in which a second microphoneis located to a first sound zone, and setting a sound zone in which athird microphone is located to a second zone, wherein the microphonearray is a triangle comprising at least three microphones; anddetermining each microphone of the microphone array to be located in atleast one sound zone, wherein the microphone array is a polygon withmore than 3 sides, a circle, or a matrix comprising a plurality ofmicrophones.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the performingbeamforming on the first processed signal according, to the sound zonesin which microphones of the microphone array are located, comprises:performing the beamforming on the first processed signal based on thesound zone in which each microphone of the microphone array is locatedand a time when each microphone receives the audio signal, to determinethe sound zone in which the sound source of tee audio signal is located.6. The method according to claim 2, wherein the sending the thirdprocessed signal to the on-board operation system of the vehicle,comprises: sending the third processed signal to the on-board operationsystem of the vehicle via an Automotive Audio Bus.
 7. A device forprocessing an audio signal in a vehicle, comprising: one or moreprocessors; and a storage device configured for storing one or moreprograms, wherein the one or more programs are executed by the one ormore processors to enable the one or more processors to; obtain an audiosignal by a microphone array; perform echo cancellation on the audio toobtain a first processed signal; perform beamforming on the firstprocessed signal according to sound zones in which microphones of themicrophone array are located, to obtain a second processed signal,wherein the vehicle comprises at least two sound zones, and eachmicrophone of the microphone array is located in at least one soundzone; and for each microphone of the microphone array, determine alocation of a sound source of the audio signal received by themicrophone, to determine a sound zone in which the sound source islocated; compare the determined sound zone with the sound zone in whichthe microphone is located, to determine whether the determined soundzone is identical with the sound zone in which the microphone islocated; and in a case that the determined sound zone is not identicalwith the sound zone in which the microphone is located, calibrate thesound zone in which the microphone is located by the determined soundzone.
 8. The device according to claim 7, wherein the one or moreprograms are executed by the one or more processors to enable the one ormore processors further to: perform noise reduction and signalamplification on the second processed signal, to obtain a thirdprocessed signal; and send the third processed signal to an on-boardoperation system of the vehicle, to control the vehicle in response tothe third processed signal.
 9. The device according to claim 7, whereinthe one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors toenable the one or more processors further to: set the sound zones inwhich respective microphones of the microphone array is located, basedon a topology of the microphone array.
 10. The device according to claim9, wherein the one or more programs are executed by the one or moreprocessors to enable the one or more processors further to set the soundzones in which respective microphones of the microphone array is locatedbased on the topology of the microphone array by at least one of:determining a first microphone as a microphone in common with the soundzones, setting a sound zone in which a second microphone is located to afirst sound zone, and setting a sound zone in which a third microphoneis located to a second zone, wherein the microphone array is a trianglecomprising at least three microphones; and determining each microphoneof the microphone array to be located in at least one sound zone,wherein the microphone array is a polygon with more than 3 sides, acircle, or a matrix comprising a plurality of microphones, and N is aninteger greater than
 3. 11. The device according to claim 7, wherein theone or more programs are executed by the one or more processors toenable the one or more processors further to: perform the beamforming onthe first processed signal based on the sound zone in which eachmicrophone of the microphone array is located and a time when eachmicrophone receives the audio signal, to determine the sound zone inwhich the sound source of the audio signal is located.
 12. The deviceaccording to claim 8, wherein the one or more programs are executed bythe one or more processors to enable the one or more processors furtherto send the third processed signal to the on-board operation system ofthe vehicle via an Automotive Audio Bus.
 13. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored,wherein the program, when executed by a processor, causes a vehicle to:obtain an audio signal by a microphone array; perform echo cancellationon the audio signal, to obtain a first processed signal; performbeamforming on the first processed signal according to sound zones inwhich microphones of the microphone array are located, to obtain asecond processed signal, wherein the vehicle comprises at least twosound zones, and each microphone of the microphone array is located inat least one sound zone; and for each microphone of the microphonearray, determine a location of a sound source of the audio signalreceived by the microphone, to determine a sound zone in which the soundsource is located; compare the determined sound zone with the sound zonein which the microphone is located, to determine whether the determinedsound zone is identical with the sound zone in which the microphone islocated; and in a case that the determined sound zone is not identicalwith the sound zone in which the microphone is located, calibrate thesound zone in which the microphone is located by the determined soundzone.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium accordingto claim 13, wherein, when executed, the program causes the vehiclefurther to: perform noise reduction and signal amplification on thesecond processed signal, to obtain a third processed signal; and sendthe third processed signal to an on-board operation system of thevehicle, to control the vehicle in response to the third processedsignal.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 14, wherein, when executed, the program causes thevehicle further to, when sending the third processed signal to theon-board operation system of the vehicle, send the third processedsignal to the on-board operation system of the vehicle via an AutomotiveAudio Bus.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 13, wherein, when executed, the program causes thevehicle further to set the sound zones in which respective microphonesof the microphone array is located, based on a topology of themicrophone array.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium according to claim 13, wherein the microphone array is a trianglecomprising at least three microphones, and wherein, when executed, theprogram causes the vehicle further to, when setting the sound zones inwhich respective microphones of the microphone array is located: settinga sound zone in which a first microphone and a second microphone arelocated to a first sound zone; and setting a sound zone in which thefirst microphone and a third microphone are located to a second zone.18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according toclaim 13, wherein each microphone of the microphone array is located inat least one sound zone, wherein the microphone array is a polygon withmore than 3 sides, a circle, or a matrix comprising a plurality ofmicrophones.